Quote Originally Posted by Revman View Post
Quick newbie questions.....

1) Is the intake on the roof for driver ventilation?
2) Does the driver consult with an engineer prior to shock tuning between stages?
3) Is there a development freeze on chassis, body, and/or engine to contain costs? I think I heard three years. What can the teams do during that time in terms of development?
4) These cars costs $900,000 US compared to a NASCAR at $250,000 US. NASCAR struggles for sponsorships and TV packages to keep teams alive. How does the WRC do it?...Maybe not a purely technological questions, but indirectly related.

Thank you
Hi Revman,

1) Yes, roof vent (bit of a misnomer) for cockpit ventilation.
2) Teams run a pre-event test in representative terrain/surface before each rally, which is where the baseline setup of the cars are determined. Throughout the weekend, the crew (driver/codriver) can and do constantly make adjustments to the dampers, ride height, etc. as the conditions change. The race team/engineers are all involved in this together of course.
3) "Freeze" might be too strong a word here. Yes, the regulation which came into effect this year stays until (at least) 2019. Teams must homologate certain parts of engine, suspension, chassis, hydraulics and bodywork, and they are indeed "frozen". We are allowed a number of "jokers" to spend, i.e. make modifications to homologated parts. Some parts are homologated as options, so different types can be introduced throughout the year. Other parts are completely free in terms of development. So it's not a development war, but not completely restricted either.
4) $900k is a very conservative number I myself still can't fully make sense of the economic side of things, I just hope every team has deep pockets and everyone can race as long as they want!

Nick, speaking of gurneys, have you noticed the massive unruly ones on this year's cars? They must now meet the ECE pedestrian safety requirement of R2.5 min, so on a parallel surface edge that's 5mm thickness...